Outdoor Survival Skills for the Impending Apocalypse

The end is approaching quickly, my friends and we need outdoor survival skills. The world as we know it will soon be destroyed and only the strongest, most determined individuals will survive the apocalypse. Resources will be scarce, humanity will be torn to shreds, and the safe, convenient technologies we have become so accustomed to will be a thing of a past.

The people who will live fruitfully after Armageddon will be the ones who have built up the skills required to survive in the great outdoors. If you haven’t begun learning these, you don’t have much time. Here are some of the most important outdoor survival skills to get you through the end of days.

Finding Clean Water

Water is the most vital substance for your survival. Without it, you have at most 5 days to live – and that number shrinks if it’s hot outside. Our bodies are over 60{fd92ba59eda499f3e5ccd050cce173bf11bea9099d7b03b3769c2d4bb6abaea7} water, and we need to keep that balance in order for our cells to function. If you are unable to find a clean water source to remain hydrated, none of the following skills will matter. The real problem here is that you can’t just drink from any water source you come across. Bacteria from animal waste and other environmental factors may make you sick – which will cause you to dehydrate at an even faster rate.

If you are fortunate to find yourself near an unpolluted spring far away from any major population centers, you may be able to drink the water straight from the source. However, the ravages of nuclear war will probably have caused widespread pollution and that spring is still likely to make you sick. Any smart survivalist will have stocked up on portable water filtration systems. These can be purchased at any outdoor stores across the nation, so make sure to get your supply before the imminent collapse of the world begins. These amazing little filters allow you to take water from nearly any source, no matter polluted, and they will clean out all of the impurities, leaving you with clean, safe drinking water.

If you are unable to obtain these filters, then you better hope you have some way to start a fire. Boiling water is one of man’s oldest ways of cleaning out the impurities. The heat will kill most of the harmful bacteria. There are certain bugs that can still live in it, but when you heat up your water you are greatly reducing the chance that you will get sick from it. The cleaner the source, the more effective this technique will be. This leads us to our next fundamental survival skill.

Building a Fire

We’re not talking about pouring gasoline on a nice backyard firepit and lighting up some store-bought logs here. If you’re going to make it through the next chapter of the world’s history, you’re going to need to know how to build a fire from scratch – without matches or a lighter.

Yes, you should stock up on these convenient little items, but you should not be reliant upon them to provide your flames. Lighters can get lost, break, or run out of fluid. Matches can get destroyed in the rain, and you can only carry so many of those as well.

You’ll want to start practicing starting a fire as soon as humanly possible. This includes searching the nearby area for suitable firewood. Chances are the department stores are going to be raided and looted immediately after the apocalypse, so you aren’t likely to find some nice pre-wrapped firewood.

You’ll need small pieces of tinder and kindling to get the fire started and large pieces of dry, flat wood to really keep it going. You’ll want a firm, dry stick with a sharp point that you can use to create friction against your fireboard (a flat piece of wood). It may take a while to get used to, but man has been creating fire for millennia, so you’ll be able to do it with a little practice. Don’t neglect this important part of survival – you’ll need fire for warmth, signaling, light, and cooking your food.

Building a Suitable Shelter

You could certainly try to sleep outside in the open, but you’ll be exposing yourself to pests, predators, other people, and changes in the weather. It’s simply not safe to sleep outside. Plus, you’ll appreciate the warmth and protection that you get from a solidly built shelter during those cold, rainy days. During the summer, you’ll be able to retreat to your shelter for some shade and protection from the sun’s harmful rays.

As we will always suggest, your best bet is to find yourself a strong, portable tent that you can hold onto as the world begins to crumble. But there is no guarantee that your tent won’t get stolen, lost, or destroyed by the elements or your enemies. This is why you must start honing your shelter-building and outdoor survival skills immediately.

Know how to identify a safe, secluded campsite. The rule of thumb is to stay high and dry. This keeps you able to look out for potential attackers while protecting your valuables from becoming soaked and unusable. If you are in a mountainous area, climb as much you can safely before scoping out your site. Once you’ve found an accessible but secluded and protected area, you are ready to build.

As you are getting better at outdoor survival skills, you need to look for fallen trees or branches to lean up against large, live trees or rocks. Once these are set up, cover them with debris such as leaves, dirt, and mud to help protect from bugs and rain. Cover the ground with debris to provide warmth from the cold ground as you sleep at night. This is a basic shelter, but it should get the job done to protect you from the elements. It’s also not made of valuables, so you won’t be losing anything if you need to leave it or if it gets destroyed.

Finding Edible Plants

While hunting is an important skill that we will talk about, plant-life is going to be the most surefire way provide nutrition for yourself. There are hundreds of varieties of berries and nuts and that you can eat, but there are also many that will make you sick or even kill you. Buy some books and start researching these so that you are prepared to make the right decisions after the world has burned.

The same can be said for mushrooms, and there are even more varieties that can harm you. It is best to leave fungi as a last resort if you can’t find any other plant food, but they certainly can be valuable if you know what to look for. Either way, you will need to forage and collect as much of this small food as possible if you are planning on surviving. You must eat sparingly. We are no longer in the time of excess – food is merely a function of survival, not a luxury that you can afford to waste or spend time critiquing and enjoying.

Outdoor Survival Skills – Hunting

While berries and nuts can provide many important nutrients, you are unlikely to get everything you need just from them. Subsisting solely on plants may make you feel weak, unsatisfied, and tired, unless you have a significant amount variety that provide all the protein, carbs, and calories that you need to create energy. This is why hunting is important when it comes to outdoor survival skills.

You may be picturing yourself shooting large, majestic deer and providing yourself with venison to hold you over for weeks. Get rid of that thought, because it is highly unrealistic. You likely won’t have access to the guns required to take down such large game, so you will have to focus on the smaller hunt before even thinking about going bigger.

Focus on fish, small game, and bugs. That’s right – bugs. In the days of civilization this may have seemed like a disgusting concept to you, but you don’t have the time to be disgusted in the post-apocalyptic world because you need outdoor survival skills. Bugs are easy to catch and can be a great source of protein and calories, so you’ll have to get used to it.

If you can fashion some sharpened sticks and tie them together, you’ll have a multi-pronged spear that will help you immensely with your outdoor survival skills. This can be used to catch fish, bugs, and sometimes even small game such as rabbit or chipmunks if you are fast enough. Learn to accurately throw heavy rocks and you’ll be able to knock out your prey and move in for an easy kill. Now get back to your fire and start cooking your dinner feast.

There are many skills that you will need in order to survive the apocalypse, and these are some of the most important. If you can teach yourself to master these, you’ll naturally begin to learn some of the more advanced skills that will stay with you throughout your life. The end of the world isn’t going to be pretty, but if you take this advice, you’ll be able to survive it strongly and fruitfully.